Spring Trip Part 6 Final

Day 63 Monday June 15 124185
Said good-byes and headed off.

Took I275 west to I 74. Amazing, in less than an hour went from Ohio to Kentucky to Indiana, back into Ohio, and then into Indiana again. Continued on I-74 into Illinois. Spent the night at Moraine View St. Park. Very nice and cheap. Space P12.
Drove 303 miles today.
Day 64 Tuesday June 16 124488
Woke up to rain and rain more than half the day. Intercepted I-80 at the Iowa/Illinois border and headed east. Spent the night at Rolling Hills RV space 16 off exit 168. I stayed here last time I was coming home from visiting Daniel.
Drove 295 miles today.
Day 65 Wednesday June 17 124783
Continuted on I-80 to I-35 which goes north to Minnesota. Then took I-90 west into South Dakota. Went to Camp America at exit 364 space 60. Very foggy this morning with temp of 63 degrees. Only one sprinkle from a thunderstorm, saw hail along side the freeway. Glad I missed that. Possibility of severe thunderstoms tonight and possible tornado.
Drove 387 miles today.
Day 66 Thursday June 18 125170
Woke up to severe thunder and lightening storms. Lots of wind and rain too. Waited for a while before leaving. Continued on I-90. Stopped at Wall Drugs, famous tourist trap at exit 110 for a brief walk. Continued on I-90 into Wyoming. Took exit 189 to Sundance. This is the place that the "Sundance Kid" got his name. Spent the night at Mountain View RV park space 20. The scenery was great. Everything was green. Not brown like in summer. Saw my first antelope since heading west.
Drove 386 miles today.


Day 67 Friday June 19 125556
Got up early and drove to exit 205, Sand Creek Rd. Followed the directions in my book and they were not quite accurate. The bridge where the agate collection was to be had been changed. Did not find much. Too close to Rapid City and easily accessible. On way back to Sundance, stopped at Vore Buffalo Jump. It was used by the Indians from about 1500 to about 1850. Probably when they got horses and guns to get the buffalo. It was accually a sink hole and they planned to put the freeway (I-90) over it and discovered all the buffalo bones. Got my trailer and went to Devil's Tower. Very crowded but fun to get close up to. Went back to I-90 and drove to Buffalo and spent the night at Deer Park, space 24 off exit 58. Saw lots and lots of antelope today and a few babies, lots of deer in Sand Creek canyon, and turkeys and an otter. Good day.
Drove 239 miles today and 75 were non trailer miles.


Day 68 Saturday June 20 125 795
Sunny in the morning and rain most of the afternoon. Saw lots of antelope in WY with babies and a fair number of deer in the middle of the day. Saw quite a few sandhill cranes. Spent the night in Deer Lodge at the Indian Creek RV Park space 16. The owner said she has lived here all her life and her dad worked as an electricain for the Milwaukee Road. I assume her dad and my dad knew each other.
Drove 419 miles.
Day 68 Sunday June 21 126224 Happy Fathers Day
Continued West on I-90. Some rain during the day. Saw lots of deer and a herd of bison. Spent the night at Moses Lake, exit 176, Suncrest Resort space 33. Most expensive place to stay on the whole trip.
Drove 383 miles today.
Day 69 Monday June 22 126607
Left Moses Lake and continuted east on I-90. Rain and low clouds over Snoqualmie Pass wth a temp of 43 deg. Heavy traffic almost all the way home.
Drove 248 miles today.

Spring Trip Part 5

Day 50 Tuesday June 2
I took the day off, sort of. Fixed the vibrated loose range top in the trailer. Put some grease in the wheel bearing. Went for a walk to the library. Read some on my book.
Day 51 Wednesday June 3
Helped Daniel so some work on this driveway. He is removing some broken pieces and resealing the joints.
Day 52 Thursday June 4
I stayed home and finished getting the drive and garage floor ready to patch with driveway patch.
Spent some time reading my book.
Day 53 Friday June 5
Daniel and I got all the concrete repair work done. Looks pretty good. Went to a concrete place and got the stuff to seal the long cracks and to seal the whole drive to prevent future freeze/thaw damage. Weather very nice. Not too hot but sunny.
Day 54 Saturday June 6
Daniel made some special waffles for breakfast. Yum. Then we went to the farmer's market. Thanh Tu got to go sit in a fire truck and in an ambulance. He was nervous but enjoyed seeing his pictures afterwards. After lunch Daniel and I went to ACE hardware to buy the rest of the stuff to finish the driveway and garage floor.
Day 55 Sunday June 7
We wanted to go to an Amish furnature store but it was closed so we went to a park along the Little Miami River. After a short want Daniel, Thanh Tu and I went down to the river dodging stinging nettles and poison oak. We spend quite a while throwing rocks in the water. Great fun watching Thanh Tu. Daniel and I later did some seam sealing of the concrete in the garage. He used the self-leveling caulk and it worked well. We had a little scare when Thanh Nha rolled off the couch onto the floor. All is well.
Day 56 Monday June 8
Worked on the driveway preparing it for caulking the seams.
Day 57 Tuesday June 9
I caulked the rest of the seams of the driveway. Had to go to the store and buy a few more tubes of caulk. The big cracks took al lot more than we thought even with the foam backing put in. Did the very small cracks in the garage too.
Day 58 Wednesday June 10
Raining in the morning. I went with Daniel, MT and the kids into work. I played around campus. Got some cash, traded a Cincinnati shirt I bought for a larger size. At lunch at the student union building. Later I went back to Daniel's lab and we met Minh Thanh and went to the movie theater to see the new Star Trek. We thought the movie was good being Trekkie fans.
Day 59 Thursday June 11
After breakfast, worked to clean the heavy oil and grease stains off the garage floor. Came out pretty good but some remained in the pores and was not easy to get out. Went and got a haircut. Ahhhh. Feels good. After lunch, washed out part of the garage floor and did a quick wash of the trailer and truck.. Saw a baby deer and it's mom in the back yard. They were spooky so did not get a good picture. Also the fireflies were out last night. They were fun to watch as I had not seen any for a while.
Day 60 Friday June 12
Daniel stayed home today. We, he, sealed the garage floor. We fixed a crack under the front door where the concrete porch has settled. The end result looks very good. We dug out an obnoxious bush. While we were working the fawn, same one I saw yesterday, I think, came into the front yard not more than twenty feet away. Cute little bugger. First one Daniel has seen at his house. Daniel and Minh Thanh and baby Thanh Nha went to a taping of "Prairie Home Companion" at the place on the Ohio River. I baby sat Thanh Tu who was a very good boy. No trouble.
Day 61 Saturday June 13
Minh Thanh, Thanh Tu, Thanh Nha and I went to the farmers market. Daniel went back to bed as he has a cold and sore throat. We just hung out the rest of the day. Thanh Tu went in the hot tub which Daniel was draining for a repair. He really enjoyed himself and was not afraid and looks like he would be ready for swim lessons. We saw the baby dear again. So cute.
Day 62 Sunday June 4 Happy Flag Day
After oatmeal waffles Daniel, Thanh Tu and I went to the local park to play. Loaded the trailer for leaving in the morning. After lunch, Daniel and I put stuff back in the garage. Saw the baby deer again. Minh Thanh made superb "spring rolls" for dinner. Yummmm. Took some group pictures.

Spring Trip Part 4

Day 41 Saturday May 23
Got most of the stuff into the trailer and truck. Went to the River Springs Ranch Property Owners Association. Not a quorum again so not sure what will happen in the future to the road maintanence. Drove 1721 miles while here with Helen.

Day 42 Sunday May 24 121921
Left Helen's and headed to Show Low and then Globe. I took hwy 77 from Globe to Tucson. Still a pretty drive.. Had a 15 minute wait due to construction just north of Winkleman. Put the trailer at Prince of Tucson RV park and then went over to Craig and Wanda's. Really great to see them again.
Drove 10 nontrailer miles and 225 trailer miles today.

Day 42 Monday May 25
Craig, Wanda and I went to Sabino canyon for a hike about 8:30.

Went about 3 miles. Getting hot for me. Saw birds and lizards. And lots of people. We left there and drove up Mt. Lemmon which was about 25 mile to the nearly 10,000 foot summit. We had a picnic lunch at the top. The temp was in the mid-60's and felt very good. Went out to dinner to a good Mexican resturaunt.
Drove 10 non-trailer miles today.

Day 43 Tuesday May 26 122167
Left Prince of Tucson RV and headed east on I-10 to Las Cruces, NM were I took US hwy 70 to Alamogordo. Stopped at White Sands National Monument for a short visit. Emense acreage of gypsum dunes next to White Sands missle testing facility.

If you look closely you can see the blobs are picnic shelters and one outhouse.
Drove 367 trailer miles today.

Day 44 Wednesday May 27 122530
Left Alamogordo and continued on hwy 70 to Roswell. Nice trip through the mountains. Saw deer and antelope today. Just past the Pecos River, stopped at a gorge which was suppose to have double ended quartz crystals. Could not get there because of fences. Drove further to a county road. Did some walking around and found a way to the gorge. The dark red crystal bearing layer, containing lots of gypsum crystals, was covered by about a three foot layer of crystaline gypsum. Sifting through one area found several clusters of what I think are quartz. Would need to screen some of the stuff to find more. Continued through Clovis on hwy 60 to Canyon, Texas just south of Amarillo. Passed through Portales where the big welcome sign to the city said, "Home of 12 thousand friendly people and 3-4 old grouches." Too funny. Took the 385 bypass around Amarillo to exit 75 on I 40. Spent the night at Overnight RV space 37 just off the freeway.
Drove 328 trailer miles today.

Day 45 Thursday May 28 122858
Continued on I-40 into Oklahoma and past Oklahoma City to Exit 237 where I spent the night at Henryetta RV park, space 30. Saw a billboard for a winery which said, "Not California, less fruity." Hee hee, can't believe it is still there.
Drove 342 trailer miles today.

Day 46 Friday May 29 123199
Continued on I 40 to exit 307 where I took federal highway 59 north. When I got to hwy 412 near the OK/ AR border the sign says to go west to continue on 59 north. Well wrong. I now really wanted to go state hwy 59 north in Arkansas. Crazy people. Stayed on AR highway 59 to US 71 which goes just east of Joplin, MO Lots of construction, traffic lights, etc on both 59's Spent the night about 100 miles east of Joplin, MO at RVExpress space 2. Pool was cold. Rats. Would have been nice after a trying day.
Drove 292 miles today.

Day 47 Saturday May 30 123491
Stayed on I-44 to St. Louis, MO where it took the bypass, 270 S, then 255 W, to I-64. into Illinois aka Illinausea (name from my friend Craig in Tuscon). Continuted into Indiana where I took exit 39 north to hwy 68 and then west 1.5 miles to Lynnville county park. Nice place on a lake with all the services and cheap. A few showers fell in the early evening. No thunder or lightening.
Drove 359 miles.

Day 48 Sunday May31 123850
Left the campground and went back to I-64 eastbound. Drove to Louisville, KY were I took I-71 north to I-75 and then I-275 to exit 69. Made it to Daniel's house a little before noon. Great seeing everyone. Thanh Tu is beginning to talk a lot and Thanh Nha is a sweetie.

Drove 207 miles today

Day 49 Monday June 124057
We went to the zoo with Thanh Tu's school. Thanh Nha stayed in day care. Had a lot of fun watching the kids see the animals. Then Daniel and I went to U of C campus. We had lunch and he went to the lab and I walked around campus for a while taking in the sights. I had a nice day. Love being with the kids. I get to hold Thanh Nha a lot.